Strip for fluorescent lamps



July 10, 1951 M. H. KRUGER STRIP FOR FLUORESCENT LAMPS 2 Sheets-Sht 1 Filed May 28, 1948 M. H. KRUGER STRIP FOR F'LUORESCENT LAMPS July l0, 19.51

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Patented July 10, 1,951

'UN l TED S TATES PATENT Y l'F'F'I .2,559,639

wSTRIP FOR FLUORESCENT 'LAMPS yMichael Henry Kruger, Malden,l `Mass., :assignor to A. L. Smith Iron Company, Chelsea, .Mass.,

a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 28, 1948, Serial No. 29,870 3 claims. (c1. aio+51-11 V This invention relates Ato lighting fixtures .in general, and more especially to za stripfor housi119 `for supporting a fluorescent lamp with its electrical connections such as the starter, ballast and conductors housed therein.

,Among the Objects of the present invention it is aimed to provide animproved strip or housing vfor a fluorescent lamp which will effectively and rigidly supportthe lamp holders and asson ciated parts in place when connected to a lamp and which during assembly and installation are removable to afford-adequate .access for handling and manipulating the several parts being assembled and connected. y

vThese and other features, capabilities and advantages of the invention will appear from the subjoined detail description of one specc embodiment thereof illustrated in `the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 isa plan view.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 isa section on the line 3 3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the .several parts before being assembled.

` Fig. 5 vis a wiring diagram of one of the several larrangements for connecting a fluorescentlamp to its source of current when connected :toga strip or housing made yaccording to the present invention. v

The strip or `housing cons.tituting the main part of the present invention consists essentially of a 4longitudinally extending sheet of' metal bent to form a trough or U-shap'e "I including' the base 2 and iside walls :3 and 4. The longitudinally extending free ends vof the side walls-.Sv-and 4 are bent to form beads A5 .and 6, respectively, offset `by the depressions l and 8, respectively. The ends of the trough formed by the sheet -I are closed Vby the end plates 9 and I which are provided with the usual knockout discs II and I2 defined from the end vplates 9 and I0 by the weakened border areas to facilitate knocking out or separating the discs 'II and/or I2 when-fdcsired. The end plates 9 :and Il) may be secured in place by any desired means without departing from the general spirit of the invention, the means shown consisting of the flanges or lips I3 and I4, the lips I3 extending from the end plates 9 and I along the inner faces of the side Walls 3 and 4 and secured thereto by the screws I5, and the lip I4 extending from the end plates 9 and I and resting on the adjacent inner face of the base 2.

Preferably as shown, at about the middle of the base 2 there is positioned and secured the ballast .unit dt. The lamp .holders Il and I8 preferably .composed ,ofhporcelain or some :suitable insulating material have the conventional terminals at the .bottom of .each connected :to the lamp contacts formed lin the extensions IB and 29 respectively. The 4holders I1'I and L8 Vare connected ito the metal clips vor brackets 2.I and 22, respectively, which .are substantially identical to one another, each having an intermediate web 23 secured -to the upper Vface of the base 24of la holder Il, I8 and laterally formed V-shaped wings 25, each including adownwardly .ex-tending web 2 vand an outer upwardly extending. outwardly nari-ng web v28 shorter than the web 2l and formed to t beneath the beads 1 and 8 when disposed in the trough I .as shown in Fig, 2.

The lamp holder I8 in the present instance has secured to the base 24 the block 29 lprovided withl electrical connections in the conventional way for the sta-rter 30 which is removablyv secured thereto and preferably extends -upwardly as -shown adjacent the inner .edge iof the web 29 of .the .clip 22. l

In :use the -ballast unit I6 is secured to vthe base v2 vwith vthe 4required electrical conductors extending therefrom ,as hereinafter to be described, and the clips 2I and 22 Awith their lamp holders kI'I and I8, respectively, are resiliently sprung into jplace into engagement with the inner faces of .the side Walls 3 and'4, the normal position of the webs 28 being such that their outer ends vare spaced apart .a .greater distance from one another normally than the distance between the inner faces of the-side walls 3 `and 4. When -so resiliently engaging the inner facesfof thewalls 3 and 4, the clips 2| and 22 vmay :be slidably moved from place to place as desired along the trough I.

The lamp 'holders Il and I8 may be connected to .the 'source of current supply in =anyone .of Aa number of ways without departing from the 4Vgeneral -spirit `of the invention. In the present instance,y a wiring diagram is shown in which vaccess Ito-the source :of current supply .is through the opening formed in the end wall 9 when the knockout disc II alone is depressed as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. In such case, the main leads 3| and 32 are passed through the opening formed in the end plate 9, the lead 3I being connected to one terminal of the lamp holder I'l and the lead 32 being shown as connected to one terminal of the ballast unit I6. The lamp holder I'I in turn is connected by the conductor 33 to one terminal of the starter 30 and the other terminal of the starter 30 in turn is connected t0 one terminal of the lamp holder I8 by the conductor 34. The other terminal of the lamp holder I8 in turn is connected by the conductor 35 to the other terminal of the ballast unit I6.

When it is desired to supply a convenience outlet 36 in the cover plate 31, then, as. shown in Fig. 5, the leads 3I and 32 are in turn connected to the terminals of said outlet 36 by the conductors 39 vand 39, respectively.

The cover plate 31 is also preferably composed of sheet metal somewhat flexible, such as is the case with the sheet metal of the trough I, especially the portions of the side plates 3 and 4 adjacent the beads 5 and Il, respectively. The cover plate 31, as shown in-Fig. 4, has mounted therein the convenience outlet 3B composed of insulating material and has extending there-y from the conductors 38 and 39 as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. This cover plate 31 has arcuate edge conformations 40 and 4I. which are spaced from one another a distance just sufficient to frictionally engage the beads 5 and 6 and anchor the plate 31 to the side walls 3 and 4 when pressed into engagement with the same. It will be noted that the side walls 3 and 4 are not connected to the end plates 9 and I0 so that they may be temporarily flexed inwardly to receive the leads 40 and 4I of the cover plate 31. The cover plate 3111s also provided with a T-shaped recess 42 at one end and a T-shaped opening 43 adjacent the outlet 3G so that they will clear the extensions I9 and 20 of the lamp holders I1 and I8 when the clips 2I and 22 are in frictional engagement with the side walls 3 and 4, thereby in turn to position the lamp holders I1 and I8 so that they will properly receive the ends of the fluorescent lamp 44 shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Preferably as shown the cover plate 31 also has a circular opening 45 to clear the starter 30.

From the foregoing it will appear that after the trough I has been secured in position with the ballast unit I6 formed therein, the main leads 3| and 32 may be passed through the BX conduit 46 which is connected by the connector 41 to the end plate 9 in the opening formed therein after the knockout II has been depressed as shown. The main leads 3l and 32 may then be connected to the conductors 38 and 39 of the convenience outlet 36 and also either directly to the lamp holder II or to the ballast unit I5 or else to connections extending from the lamp holder I'I and ballast unit I6. To facilitate such connection of the conductors 3I and 32 the clip 2l of the lamp holder I'I may be slidably moved from the end plate 9, and then after proper connections have been made moved over into position in the trough I where its extension I9 will register with the opening 43. If the wiring diagram does not provide for conductors passing through the end plate Ill, then the clip 22 of the lamp holder I8 may at the very beginning be positioned adjacent to the end plate I0 as shown in Fig. 2.' It is of course obvious that the BX connector 41 may require that the 4 knockout disc II be entirely removed so that its threaded portion may effectively engage the edge of the opening formed in the end plate 9 when the knockout disc II clears the same.

It is obvious that various changes and modications may be made to the details of construction Without departing from the general Spirit of the invention as set'forth in theV appended claims.H

I claim:

l. The combination of end walls, a one-piece sheet metal trough having a base and longitudinally extending side walls connected to the end walls at the lower ends of the side walls to anchor the end wall in place and yet to enable free exing of the side walls relative to the base, beads formed along the longitudinally extending free edges of said side walls remotely spaced from the base, sheet metal brackets having a pair of V- shaped wings With an intermediate web disposed in alinement with the upper edges of the side walls, and the joints between the wing portions of each wing engaging the inner face of the base, the inner wing portions of each wing extending from the base to the intermediate web and the outer wing portions extending from the base to the lower inner shoulder of the inwardly extending body, the outer wing portions being exible inwardly to clear said inwardly extending beads when positioning the brackets in, or removing them from, the trough, and a sheet metal cover having inwardly turned flanges along its longitudinally extending free ends resiliently to grip the lower outer shoulders of the outwardly extending beads.

2. The combination as sety forth in claim 1 in which the inwardly extending .beads are disposed between the outwardly extending beads and the base.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 1 characterized by having lamp holders mounted on said brackets and extending outwardly therefrom, and openings formed in said cover adjacent the ends thereof to clear parts of said lamp holders and cooperate with said trough to anchor said lamp holders in predetermined lamp holding positions.

MICHAEL HENRY KRUGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,090,239 Strang Aug. 17, 1937 2,250,276 Rutherford July 21, 1942 2,295,788 Hoeveler Sept. 5, 1942 2,316,404 Carter Apr. 13, 1943 2,408,783 Kloner Oct. 8, 1946 OTHER REFERENCES Catalogue #112 of Daybright Mfg. Co., St. Louis, Mo., page 30, copyright 1940. 

